


Chances You Were Burning Through

by narry (orphan_account)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:29:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/narry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He picked at his hoodie nervously as he knocked on the older boy’s door. It swung open a few minutes later, revealing Niall, dancing in his underwear while singing along to some Justin Bieber song about being ‘stuck in the moment’ or something that was blasting from his iPod speakers. The sight caused Harry to chuckle and realize that he could always talk to Niall about anything because Niall would never judge him.<br/>(In which Niall just wants Harry to be happy.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chances You Were Burning Through

**Author's Note:**

> title from "World of Chances" by Demi Lovato

_One of the best things in life is a smile from Louis Tomlinson. The way his whole face lights up makes you instantly happy, makes you want to be the reason for the beautiful twist of his features. He really did have a face made for a smile; the deep lines of frowns and grimaces looked way out of place on his soft yet angular features._

_And that wonderful smile is what destroyed Harry’s whole world._

~*~

When One Direction had first formed, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson felt an instant connection to one another. There wasn’t anything romantic between the boys, but extremely strong  _brotherly_  love. Louis immediately befriended the “baby” of the band, and the two’ve been inseparable for as long as anyone can remember. 

When the first accusation came up about Harry and Louis being in a relationship, the oldest and youngest boys fell into fits of laughter. The idea of the best friends being together in an actual genuine relationship was so…so…  _weird._ They laughed it off, denying the rumors easily, because they honestly  _weren’t_  together. They had never thought about it before.

But like with most things, after it was pointed out, it became a lot more obvious; at least to Harry. The younger teen analyzed what he did with Louis, and in all honesty, it did really seem as if the two were together. Just the thought of that was weird to Harry…until he started really thinking about it.

The two teens  _did_  seem awfully close. They  _were_ always wrapped around each other or hugging one another. They _did_  flirt quite a bit.

And the more Harry thought about it…the more he seemed to like the idea of him and Louis.

~*~

The screams from the fans were horrendously loud.

The lads weren’t actually singing, but they were talking to the fans, dancing around and generally making the girls (and quite a few boys) happy. Louis walked over to Harry and whispered in his ear, “Look- that one girl over there has a sign that says ‘my grandma’s single’.”

Harry rolled his eyes and moved his mouth right next to Louis’ ear, “Lou, we see those  _every_  night. Why do you still find it so funny?”

“I don’t know. I will never  _not_  find that funny,” he smirked.

Harry playfully batted Louis on the shoulder for the comment.  “You’re such an idiot. I don’t know why I bother with you,” he laughed.

The girls were going nuts over the closeness of the two. From just the right angle, it could look as if the two were kissing, when they were really just whispering to each other.

 _“LARRY! LARRY! LARRY!”_ the girls chanted.

Louis giggled and decided to humor the fans by throwing his arm around Harry’s shoulders. He pulled the taller boy down and planted a sloppy, messy, over-exaggerated kiss to his cheek. Harry giggled, his cheeks flushing bright red as the fans went crazy, screeching impossibly loud and snapping photos inhumanly fast.

Harry’s face was still tingling from the kiss even as the boys took their final bows and headed offstage for the night.

~*~

Harry was falling for Louis. Hard.

All the emotions were overwhelming the teen and he desperately needed someone to talk to. Normally he’d talk to Louis, but he couldn’t really talk to Louis  _about_  Louis, could he? No, that most definitely wasn’t an option.

Harry decided to talk to Niall, since the youngest boys were the second closest to each other.  

He picked at his hoodie nervously as he knocked on the older boy’s door. It swung open a few minutes later, revealing Niall, dancing in his underwear while singing along to some Justin Bieber song about being ‘stuck in the moment’ or something that was blasting from his iPod speakers. The sight caused Harry to chuckle and realize that he could _always_ talk to Niall, because Niall would  _never_  judge him.

“’Ey buddy! What’s up?” he asked, still dancing around.

Harry giggled and answered, “I just needed someone to talk to.”

Niall nodded, “Sure come in.”

He danced backwards into his living room, turning his iPod off before falling onto one of the couches and motioning for Harry to sit next to him. The curly-headed teen walked over to the couch and sat beside Niall, tucking his feet up under him.

“What’s up?”

Harry hesitantly ended up admitting everything. He told Niall things he hadn’t really even allowed himself to think about. He told the older teen about how he had been crushing on Louis for a while, about how  _much_  he was crushing on Louis, about how afraid he was to mention anything to Louis.

Niall thought for a moment after Harry had stopped talking. “Well, nothing’s going to happen until you do something,” he said wisely. “You need to tell Lou how you’re feeling, and you never know-he might even like you back.”

~*~

 “Do you ever think about what the fan girls say?”

The random question caught Louis off guard. He glanced up from the book in his lap and looked over at Harry from one of the couches in their shared flat. Harry was in the kitchen, making some dinner, avoiding eye-contact with the older teen.

“About?”  Louis prompted, looking at the other boy over his glasses.

“About…us?”

“What about us?”

“About us…being together?”

“Ugh,” Louis groaned. “Don’t even get me started.

Harry’s heart fluttered. “So you do think about it, then?” he asked, hoping his excitement wasn’t obvious.

“It’s annoying! All these girls always babbling about ‘Larry’ this and ‘Larry’ that. It’s irritating because none of it is true and none of it will ever be!” he complained.

Harry’s heart sank. “Oh,” he muttered, trying to sound uninterested. “Yeah, it is quite annoying,” he lied.

Louis went back to his book while Harry fiddled around in the kitchen, not really cooking anymore. He just didn’t want to face Louis.

“Is there any particular reason why you find it annoying?” Harry asked a few minutes later.

“Because I’m not gay,” Louis spat, not even looking up from his book.

The disgust he’d drenched the word in had Harry’s heart shattering.

“What if you weren’t gay,” he asked carefully, “but there was one boy you’d be gay for?”

Louis blinked at him. “What?” he asked, confused.

Harry sighed and stopped pretending to cook. “What if you didn’t like guys, but there was  _one_  guy you liked?” he asked.

“What are you getting at, Haz?” Louis asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Harry screwed his eyes closed, and before he could lose his nerve, said, “LouisIreallylikeyou.”

Louis’ jaw dropped, but he couldn’t honestly say he was surprised. “Harry,” he said carefully, getting up and walking over to the younger boy. “You don’t like me. You just think you like me.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed and he opened his eyes. “Yes I do,” he said in a small voice.

“No Harry. It’s just the stress. The fans have put it in your head that we’re a couple, and you’ve started to believe them. I know you don’t really like me,” he said, his sweet tone crushing the remains of Harry’s shattered heart.

~*~

The other boys, though a little confused as to  _why_  Harry would want to move out of Louis’ flat, helped him move his stuff. Zayn and Liam didn’t seem to notice the slight droop in the curly-headed teen’s shoulders every time Harry and Louis brushed against one another or the pain in his emerald eyes every time the oldest boy looked at him. Niall noticed, but didn’t say anything, knowing he’d probably just embarrass Harry into silence.

So that night, after the last box was in Harry’s new flat and all the other boys had left, Niall stayed to talk to Harry.

“You’ve seemed pretty down lately,” he noted as they sat on the new couch in Harry’s living room.

Harry shrugged, tucking his legs underneath him and turning to the side so he could face Niall. “I guess,” he murmured.

Niall frowned. “You wanna talk about it?” he asked, placing a hand on Harry’s arm.

Harry remained silent.

“Is it about Louis?”

Tears filled Harry’s eyes at the mention of the oldest boy. He nodded slightly, trying to fight the water back.

Niall sighed and pulled Harry in for a hug. “So you told him?” it was more of a statement then a question. He slowly stroked the younger boy’s loose curls. Harry nodded into Niall’s neck. “And he didn’t take it well?”

“He told me that what I felt wasn’t real. That it was just stress or something,” Harry sobbed.

Niall continued to hold the younger boy as he cried, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear and planting light kisses to his head. He didn’t mind that Harry was soaking his white graphic tee in his tears, or that the other boy was practically on top of him, nearly crushing his lungs. He just wanted Harry to feel better.

Harry cried and cried until he could cry no more. He gently pulled back, taking in a deep shuddering breath. “Will you stay with me tonight?” he whispered. He looked at Niall pleadingly, his jade eyes red-rimmed and still glistening with tears. “I don’t want to stay in here alone.”

“Sure thing, Haz,” Niall answered, pulling Harry in for a cuddle.

~*~

And maybe Louis had  _always_  been this judgmental, but Harry’s crush had blinded him from the truth. He saw the way the older boy got mad when someone suggested they were closer than friends; the way he tried to distance himself from the two girls who were holding hands tightly at one of their signings without being obvious; the disgusted glare he shot at the two boys they passed who were kissing in a doorway.

He never explicitly  _said_  he had a problem with gay people, but Harry wasn’t that dense. He noticed the way Lou was slowly beginning to distance himself from Harry whenever possible. He noticed how they never did anything together in an out of group setting, but it was okay, because whenever Louis got too unbearable, he had Niall to talk to.

Niall had practically moved in to Harry’s new flat during the first few weeks. He rarely ever spent time at his own. He cuddled Harry to sleep every night, woke him up with breakfast every morning, and held him when he cried about how  stressed he was with management forcing him to hang out with Louis, coddle him, and act like nothing had ever happened to ‘keep up appearances’.

It was one of those nights when Harry came to a realization that he didn’t need Louis. He was cuddled into Niall’s chest, complaining about how the managers had forced him and Louis to spend the day together. The whole day was spent mostly in awkward silence, as the boys hadn’t quite gotten passed  _that_  night.

Niall was gently stroking his fingers through Harry’s curls and listening to him talk. He gently pressed his lips to the top of Harry’s head when the younger boy started getting worked up. At the small action, Harry looked up, his jade green eyes threatening to spill over. His face was inches from Niall’s and he didn’t even realize he was moving until his lips were pressed against the older boy’s, and he was sitting in his lap rather than on it.

Harry smiled when he felt Niall’s lips start to move against his own. No stereotypical fireworks exploded, and there was no passion, but a strong sense of love emanated from where their lips were joined, threatening to drown Harry. And when they pulled away minutes later, both breathless with flushed faces, Harry realized that…maybe he didn’t need Louis.


End file.
